Saturday Shoppes Extends Support for Emerging Businesses Across West Florida with Help from Pinellas County Economic Development
With assistance from Pinellas County Economic Development (PCED) and the Florida Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at PCED, founder Renee Edwards has grown Saturday Shoppes from serving an initial 63 vendors in 2021 to more than 4,000 today. The company has expanded from its initial location in the City of St. Petersburg to include additional Florida locations in Clearwater, Lakeland, and Gainesville, as well as subsidiary business Everyday Shoppes in Brandon, Florida. Saturday Shoppes has boasted $2 million in earnings from 2021 to 2025, and Everyday Shoppes has grossed a quarter of a million dollars in its first year of operation.
Edwards is a long-term PCED client, having utilized the organization’s business assistance resources to launch a previous business. When she needed support for her Saturday Shoppes endeavor, she reached out to PCED Economic Development Manager Jenée Skipper. Skipper helped Edwards develop the financial skills necessary to operate a company like Saturday Shoppes, including how to read and understand profit and loss statements, setting and analyzing a budget, and understanding QuickBooks. Skipper further assisted Edwards with creating effective business proposals, building beneficial business relationships, and learning how to conduct a business valuation.
“Our partnership with the Florida SBDC allows PCED clients to easily access both our organization’s breadth of business knowledge and expertise, and the entrepreneurial tools provided through the Florida SBDC Network,” says Skipper. “From virtual workshops, to one-on-one consulting, to specialized assistance for unique business concepts like Saturday Shoppes, we provide a one-stop-shop for busy business owners like Edwards.”
None of Saturday Shoppes’ vendors have their own brick-and-mortar locations. Saturday Shoppes provides pop-up marketplaces where, for a low fee, vendors can sell their products to a large local audience. The company also operates a business academy that provides vendors with business coaching on etiquette, marketing, and licensure to help hobby vendors grow their businesses and income.
Before Saturday Shoppes, “there was no place for start-ups and small business to launch and thrive,” explains Edwards. “I wanted to create something that would help people with great ideas get started and then continue to support them as they develop their products and professional skills.”
The concept quickly outgrew its initial location in a St. Petersburg church parking lot and now thrives at Tropicana Field, as well as its other locations across Florida. Saturday Shoppes recently partnered with the Tampa Housing Authority on its mixed-use Riverfront Project, and Edwards has been working with Skipper to develop a virtual Food Truck Vendor Academy, which she expects to launch in 2026.
“I’m excited to keep the company growing – to keep supporting emerging businesses in Florida,” says Edwards. “The assistance I’ve received from PCED has been invaluable to me and, by extension, to our vendors. Together, we’re all working together to create economic development opportunities for emerging businesses through our fast-growing monthly markets.”
How can we help make your business concept a reality? Contact our team today at (727) 464-7332 to schedule a meeting.
About Pinellas County Economic Development
Pinellas County Economic Development (PCED) works with existing businesses to encourage expansion and seeks to attract new companies with high-wage careers to our community. Through investment tools, business classes, professional consulting services, trade missions to open new markets, and strategic partnerships, PCED fosters a pro-business environment and promotes the ideal business climate of Pinellas County, Florida. Learn more at www.pced.org.
